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☆ Germany arrests EU Parliament staff member on China espionage charges
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Sophie Kiderlin | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Germany has arrested a national on charges of spying for the Chinese secret service and leaking information from the European Parliament, Germany's federal prosecutor's office said on Tuesday. The man was also accused of spying on members of the Chinese opposition in Germany, according to a CNBC translation. The alleged spy was named as Jian G. and identified as an employee of a German member of the European Parliament since 2019. "If it is confirmed that there was espionage for Chinese intelligence services from within the European Parliament, then that would be an attack on European democracy from within. The ministry also said it hoped that Germany would stop using the so-called spy threat to manipulate political narratives, according to Reuters.

Persons: Scholz, Jian G, Maximilian Krah, Nancy Faeser Organizations: Tongji University, CNBC, Reuters Locations: China, Germany, Brussels

☆ Seoul Police Chief Indicted Over Halloween Crush
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean prosecutors have indicted the head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, charging him with contributing through negligence to the Halloween crowd crush in Seoul in 2022 that killed nearly 160 people, according to the Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office. The indictment of Seoul police chief Kim Kwang-ho came more than a year after the crowd crush in October 2022, which killed 159 people on a Halloween weekend in the entertainment district of Itaewon in capital Seoul. Kim is the highest-ranking police official charged in connection with the crowd crush. In January last year, a special investigation team referred Kim and 22 other police, rescue and district office officials to the prosecution on charges related to the government's inadequate response to the stampede. (Reporting by Heekyong Yang; editing by Giles Elgood)

Persons: , Kim Kwang, Kim, Heekyong Yang, Giles Elgood Organizations: Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Seoul Western, Prosecutors Office Locations: SEOUL, Seoul, Itaewon

CNN —A fire that ripped through a train as it travelled along a strategic rail tunnel in eastern Russia was the work of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), a Ukrainian defense source has claimed. “Four explosive devices were detonated while the freight train was in motion,” a source with knowledge of SBU operations told CNN. The explosion occurred on the Baikal-Amur railway, in the Bessolov Severomuyskiy tunnel in Buryatia, in the eastern Siberia region of Russia bordering Mongolia, according to the source. “The explosion is yet another successful special operation by the SBU,” the source said. Train traffic has been rerouted, according to the Russian Railway.

Persons: ”, “ Organizations: CNN, Ukrainian Security Service, Russian Railway, East Siberian Transport Prosecutor’s, East Siberian Railway Locations: Russia, Buryatia, Siberia, Mongolia, Ukraine, China

☆ Samantha Woll: Suspect arrested in killing of Detroit synagogue leader is released
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Omar Jimenez | Dakin Andone | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —A suspect who was taken into custody in last month’s killing of Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll has been released, the suspect’s lawyer said Saturday. Still, Woll’s killing has rattled Jewish community members still grappling with Hamas’ deadly October 7 attacks on Israel and the ensuing conflict. Police did not identify the suspect in Woll’s killing. Under Michigan state law, suspects cannot be detained longer than 72 hours without a court hearing. Woll had been her “normal positive and pleasant self” at the wedding prior to her killing, White noted, citing police interviews.

Persons: Samantha Woll, James E, White, Allison Kriger, Isaac, ” White, Woll, “ Sam, Rabbi Ariana Silverman, ” Organizations: CNN, Detroit Police, Police, Detroit Free Press, Detroit Police Department, ” Police, Prosecutors Office Locations: Detroit, Israel, United States, Michigan, Wayne

[1/6] A man works on a pole to restore electricity after a storm knocked down power cables in Sao Paulo, Brazil November 6, 2023. REUTERS/Carla Carniel Acquire Licensing RightsSAO PAULO, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Half a million residents of Sao Paulo remained without electricity on Monday three days after a storm knocked down power cables, leaving much of Brazil's largest city in the dark. The storm snapped branches and knocked down hundreds of trees that fell on overhead power lines in many streets of the city, initially cutting off 2.1 million customers in Metropolitan Sao Paulo, energy distribution company ENEL said. But what is shocking is that year after year there is not enough investment in burying the power cables. Reporting by Camila Moreira, Alberto Alerigi and Leticia Fucuchima in Sao Paulo; Anthony Boadle in Brasilia; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Carla Carniel, Sao Paulo, ENEL, Denilson Laurindo, Thiago Gonzalez, Gonzalez, Flavio Dino, Alexandre Vieira Monteiro, Camila Moreira, Alberto Alerigi, Leticia Fucuchima, Anthony Boadle, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, SAO PAULO, Metropolitan Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Friday, Brazil's, Thomson Locations: Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sao, Brazil's, Metropolitan Sao, Morumbi, Brasilia

☆ Janitor accused of wiping his penis and anus on bread meant for kids in 3rd-5th grade
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementAn elementary-school janitor was accused of spreading his saliva, urine, and feces on food due to be served to kids, horrifying his New Jersey community. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe document cited Telegram videos which it said showed Impellizzeri using pieces of bread to wipe his "penis, testicles and anus" before putting them back to be served to kids. AdvertisementAdvertisementIt said another video showed him "spraying bleach into a container of cucumbers" later served children. The prosecutor's office said that investigators found items at the school seeming to match those in the video. The prosecutors' office said health officials had been to the school to sanitize affected areas and throw out any items from the video.

Persons: —, Giovanni Impellizzeri, Elizabeth F, Impellizzeri, Shatora Sheikh, Peter Koza Organizations: Service, Moore, New, Office, Prosecutors, CBS News, Investigators Locations: New Jersey, Jersey, Upper Deerfield Township, Cumberland County, Cumberland

☆ Guatemala Attorney General Determined to Block Arevalo From Office: Sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Oct. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

By Sofia MenchuGUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemala's attorney general, a steadfast opponent of President-elect Bernardo Arevalo, has crafted a complex strategy to weaken his mandate or prevent him from taking office, according to five sources with knowledge of the prosecutor's thinking. At the center is Attorney General Maria Consuelo Porras, who protesters blame for attempting to prevent Arevalo from taking office on Jan. 14. Anti-graft campaigner Arevalo won a shock landslide victory in August but has received a backlash from the political establishment. Luis Almagro, head of the Organization of American States (OAS), has said the actions of the attorney general's office had set "a shameful example." Blocking Arevalo from taking office would throw Guatemala into deeper turmoil, said Tamara Taraciuk, Rule of Law program director at the Inter-American Dialogue think-tank.

Persons: Bernardo Arevalo, Maria Consuelo Porras, Arevalo, Alejandro Giammattei, Porras, Porras's, Luis Almagro, Arevalo's, Jose Carlos Sanabria, Tamara Taraciuk, Sofia Menchu, Cassandra Garrison, Stephen Eisenhammer, Rod Nickel Organizations: Sofia Menchu, Sofia Menchu GUATEMALA CITY, Semilla, Prosecutors, Organization of American States, U.S . State Department, Inter Locations: Sofia, Sofia Menchu GUATEMALA, Guatemala, United States, Semilla's

A Connecticut man who found a bag containing nearly $5,000 in cash outside a bank and claimed “finders-keepers” had a criminal charge against him dropped Wednesday after he gave the money back. Withington found the bank bag containing $4,761 on May 30 outside a bank in his hometown of Trumbull, near Bridgeport. A police officer had escorted the town employee to the bank, but neither one noticed the bag being dropped, police said. I just found a money bag. It was very upsetting.”When asked why he did not bring the money bag to the bank, Withington said the thought never entered his mind.

Persons: ”, Robert Withington, Withington's, Withington, “, ” Withington, Daniel Schopick Organizations: Bridgeport Superior Court, Police Locations: Connecticut, Bridgeport, Trumbull, Withington

But officials have made clear recently that other forms of US aid are potentially in jeopardy if Ukraine does not do more to address corruption. The US has provided Ukraine with over $23 billion in direct budget support since the war began, according to the Congressional Research Service. In a statement to CNN, the Ukrainian embassy in Washington said that Ukraine has moved “ambitiously” to pass reforms, including on its IMF program. That money is also the “most closely scrutinized” form of aid to Ukraine, a senior Democratic Senate aide told CNN. The US intends to provide up to $3.3 billion in direct economic aid to Ukraine if Congress authorizes its $24 billion supplemental request for Ukraine.

Persons: Biden, Jake Sullivan, Antony Blinken, Volodymyr Zelensky, Matthew Miller, Miller, ”, Denys Shmyhal, Blinken, “, It’s, Megan Reed, Sen, Lindsey Graham, Zelensky Organizations: CNN, Ukraine, The State Department, Congressional Research Service, United States Agency for International Development, USAID, World Bank, Ukrainian Ministry of Finance, International Monetary Fund, IMF, National Bank of, General Prosecutors, National Security, Ukrainian, White, Ukrainska Pravda, Government of, EU, State Department, NATO, Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Democratic, Republicans, Pentagon, The Defense, Ukrainian MoD Locations: Ukraine, Ukrainian, Washington, National Bank of Ukraine, USA, Russia, Kyiv, Europe, Government of Ukraine, United States, EU

☆ Taiwan Investigating Accusation Submarine Program Details Leaked
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Oct. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan prosecutors said on Monday they are investigating accusations that people tried to interfere in the island's submarine program and that details about it were leaked, in what would be a serious breach of security. Taiwan unveiled its first domestically developed submarine on Thursday, a major step in a project aimed at strengthening the island's defence and deterrence against the Chinese navy, though it won't enter service for two years. Taiwan's Supreme Prosecutors Office, in a short statement, said Huang's accusations had attracted "great attention" given the national security and defence implications. Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has made the indigenous submarine program a key part of an ambitious project to modernise its armed forces as Beijing stages almost daily military exercises to assert its sovereignty claims. The submarine program has drawn on expertise and technology from several countries - a breakthrough for diplomatically isolated Taiwan.

Persons: Huang Shu, kuang, Ben Blanchard, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Taiwan's, Prosecutors Office Locations: TAIPEI, Taiwan, China, Beijing

☆ Taiwan investigating accusation submarine program details leaked
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FILE PHOTO-Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen attends the launching ceremony of Narwhal, its first domestically built submarine, in Kaohsiung, Taiwan September 28, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsTAIPEI, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Taiwan prosecutors said on Monday they are investigating accusations that people tried to interfere in the island's submarine program and that details about it were leaked, in what would be a serious breach of security. Taiwan unveiled its first domestically developed submarine on Thursday, a major step in a project aimed at strengthening the island's defence and deterrence against the Chinese navy, though it won't enter service for two years. Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has made the indigenous submarine program a key part of an ambitious project to modernise its armed forces as Beijing stages almost daily military exercises to assert its sovereignty claims. The submarine program has drawn on expertise and technology from several countries - a breakthrough for diplomatically isolated Taiwan.

Persons: Tsai Ing, Narwhal, Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Huang Shu, kuang, Ben Blanchard, Gerry Doyle Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Taiwan's, Prosecutors Office, Thomson Locations: Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Rights TAIPEI, China, Beijing

☆ Deal targeted by probe involving LVMH's Arnault was legal, lawyer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Sept 30 (Reuters) - A financial transaction under investigation in France involving LVMH owner Bernard Arnault was carried out in full respect of the law, his lawyer said on Saturday. The Paris public prosecutor's office confirmed on Friday that it is investigating financial transactions involving Arnault and Russian businessman Nikolai Sarkisov. In France, a prelimary investigation does not necessarily imply wrongdoing by those concerned, for whom the presumption of innocence applies. An unidentified Tracfin official told Le Monde the transactions involving Arnault and Sarkisov, who both acted through a complex web of legal entities, could have been aimed at concealing the origins of the funds used. Reporting by Mimosa Spencer; writing by Leigh Thomas; editing by Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Bernard Arnault, Nikolai Sarkisov, Sarkisov, Cheval, Jacqueline Laffont, Le, Mimosa Spencer, Leigh Thomas, Christina Fincher Organizations: Reuters, Le Monde, Thomson Locations: France, Paris, Russian, Le, Cheval Blanc, Courcheval

CNN —Spanish prosecutors have opened an investigation that could end in sexual aggression charges against the country’s soccer federation boss Luis Rubiales. The case centers on the unwanted kiss Rubiales gave to star player Jenni Hermoso as Spain won the Women’s World Cup on August 20, according to a Monday statement from the Spanish Prosecutors Office. The soccer boss and the RFEF have been embroiled in controversy ever since he kissed 33-year-old attacker Hermoso on the lips after Spain won its first Women’s World Cup title with victory against England. In response to Rubiales’ decision to stay, RFEF vice president Rafael del Amo and 11 members of the Spanish national women’s soccer program have resigned. Hermoso and her World Cup teammates said that they would not play again for Spain until Rubiales has been removed from his position.

Persons: Luis Rubiales, Rubiales, Jenni Hermoso, Jennifer Hermoso, Ángeles Béjar, “, Hermoso, ”, Rafael del Amo Organizations: CNN, Spanish Prosecutors, Spanish, FIFA, Spain, England Locations: Spain, Motril, Granada, “

☆ Poland was not hub for Nord Stream sabotage, prosecutors say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, June 22 (Reuters) - There is no evidence to suggest that Poland was used as a hub for the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline, Polish prosecutors said on Thursday, rejecting a report that a team that blew up the pipelines may have used Poland as an operating base. The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported this month that German investigators are examining evidence suggesting a sabotage team used Poland as its base to damage the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea in September. "The statement that 'Poland was a logistics hub for the operation of blowing up Nord Stream' is completely untrue and is not supported by the evidence of the investigation," the Polish National Prosecutor's Office said in a statement. Citing people familiar with the voyage, it said the sabotage crew placed deep-sea explosives on Nord Stream 1 before they setting the vessel on a course towards Poland. Polish prosecutors said that the Andromeda had sailed to Poland from the German island of Ruegen and spent 12 hours in a Polish port.

Persons: Alan Charlish Organizations: WARSAW, Street Journal, National Prosecutor's, Rzeczpospolita, Thomson Locations: Poland, Nord, Baltic, Ruegen, Polish

CNN —Parents of preschool children allegedly given sedatives by staff at a kindergarten in Taiwan have been protesting the government’s slow response to the incident. On May 14, three parents told local police that their children were irritable and showed self-harming behaviors between February and April this year. They said the children told them their teachers had given them drugs, Taiwan’s official Central News Agency (CNA) reported. The District Prosecutors Office in New Taipei City was first notified of a case involving the potential drugging of minors on May 15. The principal and four teachers from the kindergarten were questioned by police, CNA reported.

Persons: Lin Ching, Hou Yu Organizations: CNN, Central News Agency, CNA, Prosecutors, New, ih, Kuomintang Locations: Taiwan, New Taipei City

☆ Ex-Tokyo Olympics official, ad execs arrested in bid-rigging scandal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Kantaro Komiya | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

TOKYO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Japanese prosecutors arrested on Wednesday a former Tokyo Olympics organising committee official and executives at three advertising agencies on suspected bid-rigging of test events for the Games, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office said. The media reports later said the prosecutors also arrested three executives at advertising and event-planning firms Dentsu Inc (4324.T), Cerespo Co (9625.T) and Fuji Creative Corporation, a subsidiary of Fuji Media Holdings Inc (4676.T). Dentsu said in a statement that a former employee, who currently works at a group firm in Japan, was arrested. The bid-rigging investigation comes after a bribery scandal, in which Haruyuki Takahashi, a former member of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics board and before that a Dentsu executive, was arrested in August on suspicion of receiving bribes from Olympic sponsors. Executives from ADK, suits retailer Aoki Holdings (8214.T) and publishing firm Kadokawa (9468.T) have also been arrested in connection with the bribery scandal.

☆ Japan prosecutors indict Yamagami for murder of ex-Prime Minister Abe -Yomiuri
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Japanese prosecutors on Friday indicted the man suspected of killing former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Yomiuri newspaper reported. Nara District Public Prosecutors Office indicted Tetsuya Yamagami, 42, on murder charges as well as for violating gun laws after concluding a roughly six-month psychiatric evaluation, the newspaper reported. The Unification Church was founded in South Korea in 1954 and famous for its mass weddings, relying on its Japan followers as a key source of income. The approval rate for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government had fallen to record laws amid revelations about connections between the church and many LDP lawmakers. In November, Japan launched a probe into the church that could threaten its legal status following the assassination of Abe.

☆ Brazil is reviving a 2008 fraud case against Rep.-elect George Santos, who has been caught in a string of lies since his midterm victory
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Brazil is reviving a long-dormant fraud case against George Santos, The New York Times reported. A spokesperson for the Rio de Janeiro prosecutors office told The New York Times that authorities will be reviving a 2008 fraud case, which they dropped more than a decade ago after failing to locate him. Prosecutors in Brazil charged Santos with embezzlement over a decade ago, but the case was archived in 2013 because Santos could not be found to answer a court summons. Santos flipped a Democratic seat in New York to help Republicans clinch a narrow House majority in the November midterms. Santos added that he has never been charged with a crime in Brazil, or anywhere else.

Police arrested the suspect, a German citizen identified as Carsten L., on Wednesday in Berlin, the federal prosecutors office said. "The accused is suspected of state treason," federal prosecutors said in a statement. "In 2022, he shared information that he came by in the course of his work with a Russian intelligence agency. As such, the BND would not be giving out any further details on the case until federal prosecutors had concluded their investigation, Kahl added. The last time a German intelligence employee was arrested for treason was in 2014 - although then it was for betraying secrets to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

☆ Guatemalan former president and vice president convicted of fraud, conspiracy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

GUATEMALA CITY — A court in Guatemala convicted former President Otto Pérez Molina and his vice president, Roxana Baldetti, on fraud and conspiracy counts Wednesday. Johan Ordonez / AFP - Getty Images“It is a lie,” the former president, 72, said during a break in the court proceedings Wednesday. Then President Jimmy Morales ended the CICIG’s mission in 2019 while he was under investigation. Anticorruption efforts have faltered since then and those who worked closely with the international mission have seen the justice system turned against them. Around 30 former anti-corruption officials have fled the country.

☆ Prosecutors raid Dentsu over suspected bid-rigging for Olympics test events -media
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Tokyo prosecutors raided the headquarters of ad agency Dentsu Inc and an events company on Friday on suspicion of rigging bids for Tokyo Olympics test events, public broadcaster NHK and other domestic media reported on Friday. Shares in its parent company Dentsu Group Inc (4324.T) slumped 4% on the news. The move marks a widening of scandal over the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that also saw Dentsu Inc offices raided earlier this year. The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office and the Japan Fair Trade Commission declined to comment on the reports of suspected bid-rigging. Prosecutors have also searched the home of a Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee executive who was suspected of having handled the project orders for the test events, Kyodo news agency reported.

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